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, f4 Sheet-Sheet 1. C. F. VAR LEY. a

l Eleetro Pneumatic vApparatusfor Tansmitting Dispatches.

No. 78,845. Y Patented lune 9,1868.

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- 4 Sheet-Sheet 2.

C. F. VARLEY.

. Electro Pneumatic Apparatus for T ransmtting Dispatches.

Patenied June 9, 1868.

4 Sheet-Sheet 4.- C.- F. VARLEY..

-Electro Pneumatic Apparatus forv Transmtting Dispatches. f No. 78,845, l n Patentedv June 9, 1868.v

vTo all whom it may concern:

top,view, of the same. F arrangement of the message-tube at the disj sake, being` considered together.

PATENT FFICF...-

' o. F. VARLEY, oF LONDON, 'F.rieLArID.U

ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING DISPATCHESl Specification forming part of Letters Patent'No. 78,84 5, dated June 9, 1868.

Be it known that I, CROMWELL FLEE'rWooD lVARLEY, of London, England, temporarily rc'- siding in NewYork, in the county and Stateof New York, haveinvented certain new and use- ;ful Improvements in Electro-Pneumatic Apparatus vfor Transmittin g Messages, Src., Through Tubes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionot the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichl Figure l is a front elevation of an apparatus made in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, and Fig. 3 is a plan or Fig. 4 represents the tant end oftheline and the mechanism for effecting automatically the cut-off of the compressed air by which the message is transmitted to that end. l

The apparatus the subject lof thezpresent patent is composed of three distinct mechanisms-fthe first for introducing into the message-pipe the compressed air by which the `message carriers or pistons are transmitted in` the one direction the second for opening conig munication between the said pipe andthe air-i exhaust, by meansof which thefcarriers are 'drawn in the opposite'direction, and the third 4for cutting oi' communication atany moment with both the compressed-air and the exhaust` chambers of the apparatus. In addition to these thereis afonrth mechanism, located at the other end of the message pipe and communicating with the cut oft' mechanism above named by means of electricity, in such manner that the arrival of the'message-carrier at the distant end of the pipe shall cause the said cut-off mechanism to instantaneously shutoff the compressed air by which the carrier has been driven to its destination.

In illustrating the mannerfin which this in- Y vention is or may be carried into effect, by reference to the accompanying drawings, I shall de-` scribe the different mechanisms ot' which the apparatus is composed, in the order abovei named--the tirst and fourth, for convenience4 I. The mechanism for sendingmesscges,

- chest.

and `it is combined with any ordinary or suitable air-exhaust and air-condensin g appara-tus. IA button, A, is attached to valve-rod B,Which passes into a box, D, andA carries on its lower end a valve which closes the mouth of a" pipe, E, leading-to the compressed-air chamber. The valve-rod is held up by a suitable spring, which Ywill yield when the button A is pressed on, so as to allow the valve to open. To the rear ot' the box D is' secured a pipe, G, which, as indicated in the drawings, extends to and opens into a small cylinder, F, placed in rear of the 'message-pipe G. Within the cylinder is a piston attached to the rod H, which rod passes out from the front end of the cylinder, and carries a slidelvalve, I, placed between the pipe Gr and the receiving-chamber or carrier-box J.

ment of the two pipes C and K is suchthat theV compressed air entering the cylinder F through the pipe GA must force the piston `within the cylinder forward, so as to completely1 close, by means of the valve I,`all communication `be tween the message-pipe and receiving-cham- -ber before it can pass out through the pipe K.

`The cylinderL contains a piston anda pistonrod, M, which passes down into the chest N, into which the main conducting-pipe O from the compressed-air chamber opens. A valve,

P, attached tothe lower end of thepiston-rod and applied to the under side of the' chest or chamber N, closes the mouth of the compressedair pipe. Between the chestand thecylinder is a space in which is placed the spring-detent Q, which, when the piston-rod is forced down so as to open the valve, engages with a stopor catch, Q', on the rod, and. thus holds therod kdown `and theyalve open, so as to allow compressed air to pass from the pipe O into the From the rear of the latter extends a large pipe, R,.whic l1`.opens into lthe messagepipe Grin advance of the slide-Valve I.

y The operation of the above-described portion oftheapparatus is as follows: .When a 1 message is to be sent it is Aplaced in ari-ordinary or suitable carrier or piston, which 1s inserted through the.' door of the receiving-chamber J intov the message pipe in front of the point where the mouth of the pipe R is located. The attendant now presses down the button A, thus opening the mouth of the pipe E and allowing compressed air to escape therefrom into the box D, whence it is conducted through the pipe C to the cylinder F, the piston within which is thereby driven forward until the slide-valve I has completelyA closed all communication between the message-pipe and receiving-chamber. By the time this is accomplished the piston will have moved far enough to open the -pipe K, through which the air now passes into the upper part of the cylinder L, whose piston and piston-rod are .thus forced down, so asto openy the valve P, the piston-rod in this posivtion being firmly held by means ofthe detentand catch Q Q. This action of the compressed f1 `air from the pipe E upon the valve P is almost instantaneous, and the button A need` therefore. be depressed but for a second. As the valve P is thus held open the compressed air rushesup through the pipe O, the boxV N, and

'the pipe R into the message-pipe G, and, all -communication with the receiving-chamber bein g cut olf'by the slide-valve, necessarily drives 1 -forward the message-carrier or piston to the terminus or other end of the message-pipe.

- The method of effecting-the automatic cutolf of Athe compressed air as soon as the car- 'rier reaches its destination is represented iny Fig. 4, inwhich station A is the main station, ywhere the apparatus above described is located. V Thevend of the message-pipe G, at s'tationB, isbent downward, as shown in the figure re. -ferred to, so as to prevent articles from beingf 'dropped accidentally or from designinto the:

- pipe.

Immediately under the mouth-of the pipe is which the beam S is supported is connected by a wire with an electro-magnet, 1, at station. A` 'at the other end of, the line, and the. bracket which holds the set-screw U is inlike-manner put .in-communication witha battery, 2, at station B.

The armature of the electro-magnet is secured -to a-lever similar Vto that of an ordinary Morseinstrument, the lopposite end of which isattached to a rod which carries a-piston, V. This pistonis placed within-a cylinder, V', and has formed on-it an annular -groove, o. In the opposite sides of the cylinder are twoI pipes,

Aw-hich when the armature .is removed fromthe .electro magnet 1 are closed by thel piston, but wh en the armature is drawn-toward its mag#y net the pistonV, by the tilting of the armatureber of the apparatus. The other, X, opens into a cylinder, Y, in which there is a piston and a piston-rod, Z. The latter is jointed to a vertical swinging arm, 3, pivoted at its upper end to the frame or stand in which the cylinder L is held. A sliding or reciprocating rod, 4, mounted horizontally in the same frame and provided with stops 5, which engage with the detents Q, has a stop or shoulder, 6, on its end, against which the arm 3 strikes when moved outwardly, andthe sliding rod ,4. can thus be moved so as -to drawback the detent Q and release the vpiston or valve rod `M and valve P.

. The operationof this portion of the apparatus is as follows: The carrier, with its .inclosed message, when shotout from the tube atstation B, falls into the bag S. The beam ,S is by. this means tilted so as to bringpits other end in contact with the set-screw U,`the spring T causing the vcontact to be somewhat prolonged.. Thecircuit is thus closed between v,the velectro magnet l and the battery 2,v and theformer is `consequently excited so as to attract its armature. The other end of the llever towhich the armature is attached'isconysequently raised so as to draw up the pistou V 'until the annular groove@ connects the two pipes W X, between-Which communication is fnow opened. The vacuum or air-exhaust chamber is thus, through themedium of the pipes W X, in communication with the cylinder Y, whose piston-rod is drawn back. The swinging arm 3 follows the-movement of the-rod and,striking against the shoulder 6 of the sliding rod 4, causes the latter to follow its vmovementuntil the detent Q., by means of the stop 5, is ,disengaged from the piston-rod M.

Thevvalve-P, when thistakes place, will at once-ibo fforcedup against .its seat,.and the lilow of compressed air consequently willv be out off. As thecylinder Fandthe cylinder Y are connected together by the tubes b c,'the slide-valve I is 1drawn back at the same time `that the compressed air is cut off, and the pipe Y G is left ready-toiransmit another carrier.

i It.w.ill.be, of course., understood thatthe valve-pistons and packing for the same may be made in. any ordinary or suitable vmanner and of the materials usually employed for the purpose. 1t will be found of great advantage yto attach india-,rubber or other elastic buffers to each face ofthe pistons,y in order tolessen the effect -of the blows received by them in movingforward or backward in their cylinbeing connected with the condenser leads to the air-exhaust chamber. From the box d there extends a pipe, f, which opens into the lower part of the upright cylinder g, which contains a piston and pistonrod, g, the upper end of thelatter being hinged to an arm, i, which l in turn is jointed to the cover or door, j, of the receiving-chamber J. The cover is hinged to the lower part of the chamber, and is arranged, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to drop and swing open ot' its own weight when not held up by a superior force. In the cover there may be a glass window, j', through which the attendant can inspect the operation ofthe carriers. Adjoining the pipe j' another pipe, k, leads from the cylinder g and opens into the cylinder h, mounted in aframe by the side of the cylinder L, already described. The cylinder contains a piston and a piston-rod, l, which extends down into the chest N, and carries on its lower end a valve, m, which closes the large pipe n lead already described, excepting that the position of the valve fmJ is reversed, it being applied so as to press down over the mouth ofthe pipe n. The detent o and catch p also occupy a reversed position, so that the valve-rod l shall be held up instead of down, as in the case of the rod M. The pipe R, alreadyr described, serves also to put the vacuum-chamber in communication with the message-pipe G. When notification is telegraphed from the other end of the linefrom station B, for instance-that a message is to be received, the attendant at station A depresses the button a, thus opening communication through the pipes e and f between the vacuum apparatus and the cylinder g. The piston in the latter is by this means drawn down, which movement, through the medium of the piston-rod g' and jointed arm t', causes the door j to be tightly closed. Through the pipe k, which extends from the cylinder g, a vacuum is induced in the cylinder h, which causes the piston contained therein to rise, to-

gether with the piston-rod l, until the detent o and catch p engage with one another, so as to hold the valve m up away `from the pipe n. The vacuum or air-exhaust apparatus is now in direct communication with the message-pipe G through the tube R, and asuflicient vacuum is created therein to draw the carrier with its inclosed message from station B. As in the case of the sending-button A, the button a need be depressed but a second or two. The valves,

t pistons, packing, Svc., of this mechanism also may be of any suitable form, construction, and material. When the carrier arrives at the receiving-chamberJ it strikes forcibly against an elastic buffer, 1', on the opposite end of which is a rod, s, and a valve, t, which is situated within abox or cylinder, g, on the exterior of the receiving-chamber. The valve is held against the end of the chamber by means of a spring,

s', so as to close a series of apertures around the valve-rod s. A pipe, w, leads from the `chest q, and communicates through the pipe b wit-h the cylinder Y. The buffer 1', by the impact of the carrier, is forced back so as to ment of the arm 3, and thus admit air to the a chest and to the pipe It. There is also, necessarily, another valve, y, on the inside, to prevent the escape of compressed air when the chest is incommunication with the condenser. The door]l will now drop of its own weight, as indicated in Fig. 2, and the carrier., with inclosed message, will fall from .the receivingchamber into a basket placed beneath for its reception.

It may sometimes happen that when the carrier is moving back the message, by the force of the exhaust, will be drawn out from the carrier and y down into the pipe R. To guard against this contingency I cover the mouth of the pipe which opens into G with wire-gauze o'r a perforated plate, which will admit the passage of air in either direction, but will prevent y means of a pipe, b', communicates directly with the cylinder Y, so that when the button a' is depressed the air in the cylinder is exhausted and its piston consequently drawn back, thus effecting the release of either piston-rod, l or M, which may happen to be engaged with its detent; and also, through the medium of the pipes b and c', the latter entering the cylinder F, the piston in said cylinder is drawn back,

together with the slide-valve I, should the lat ter have closed the pipe G.

In the apparatus thus described it will be seen that the carrier is sent away from the stai tion A by means of compressed air and brought back by means of a vacuum, thus admitting of but one exhaust and air-compressing appai ratus being used, from which can radiate as many lines of tubes G as desired. The arrival of the carrier at either end ot' the line also efi fects automatically the cut-off of theagency by which it is moved, while the whole apparatus in all its parts is operated by means ofthe three stops A, a, and a' with extreme simplicity and ease, and with a great saving of labor and expense. One person, for instance, may at tend to seven or more pipes G. As the source of power is at one end only, all confusion is prevented, While by connecting,` the different 'stations by telegraph-lines notice can at once be ygiven when a message is to be received or vsent through the message-tube, one wire between each two stations being sufficient for this purpose, as isevident from an inspection ofthe drawings.

Having,` now described my invention and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Operating the pistons and valves of the main compressed-air and exhaust pipes o and n by means of a series of auxiliary valves and pistons and pipes connecting the exhaust and compressed-air chambers with the cylinder,

and arranged to be operated bythe keys or buttons A (t, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. The combination, with the valve-rods and Zand their detents, ot' the sliding rod 4, arm 3, and piston-rod of the cut-oft' cylinder V,

' substantially as herein shown and described.

3. The combin ation, with the cylinder V and Y its piston, of the cutoff mechanism herein described, arranged in such manner that either the depression of the stop or key a or the arrival of the carrier at the distant end of the message-pipe shall connect the said cylinder with the exhaust, substantially as and for the purposes herein shown and set forth.

4. The use ot' the valves .fr y, arranged in chest N so as to be operated by the movement of the arm 3, for the purpose of destroying the vacuum in the chest and message-tube, as set forth.

5. Thecombination, with the message-tube and mechanism for connecting the same with the air-compressing apparatus, of the cylinder F and piston and slide-valve arranged to cnt oft' communication between the message-tube and receiving-cham ber, substantially as herein shown and set forth.

6. Connecting theslide-valve cylinder F with both the compressed-air and the cut-oft mechanism, substantially in the manner and for the C. F. VARLEY.

NVitncsses:

MARcELLUs BAILEY, G. G. PAGE, Jr. 

